[cardcrimson]

I'm not sure much of the money is going into building construction, but I don't think most of it. I have a sister, aunt, and brother in law who all work in research labs with a large portion of their salaries coming from NIH grants, including indirect costs. 

Professors, undergraduates, and graduate students are not the only personnel required to make research labs function. In the past, this sort of funding was seen as a good way of making sure the US was the premier country for biomedical research. I think it still is, but that can change. Perhaps some places like Stanford have means of covering for these funds, but the money will have to come from somewhere.

I would imagine that those putting in the hours don't count as overhead, they would be direct costs. It's the buildings (well depreciation), the management, etc that count as overhead. Shouldn't hurt those who are doing the research at all. I could be wrong, but that's how it's accounted for in the manufacturing world, and according to Google AI, in research companies, too.

[cardcrimson]

I'm not sure much of the money is going into building construction, but I don't think most of it. I have a sister, aunt, and brother in law who all work in research labs with a large portion of their salaries coming from NIH grants, including indirect costs. 

Professors, undergraduates, and graduate students are not the only personnel required to make research labs function. In the past, this sort of funding was seen as a good way of making sure the US was the premier country for biomedical research. I think it still is, but that can change. Perhaps some places like Stanford have means of covering for these funds, but the money will have to come from somewhere.

I would imagine that those putting in the hours don't count as overhead, they would be direct costs. It's the buildings (well depreciation), the management, etc that count as overhead. Shouldn't hurt those who are doing the research at all. I could be wrong, but that's how it's accounted for in the manufacturing world, and according to Google AI, in research companies, too.